GANSEVOORT, N.Y. - The Gallaudet University athletics program finished in eighth place out of 14 schools in the final 2016-17 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Presidents' Cup standings announced by the conference office today. The NEAC Presidents' Cup is calculated by a school's standings for athletic, academic, sportsmanship and community service success throughout the school year.

GU made a big improvement in the Senior Woman Administrators' Cup for community service as it jumped from 14th place (2015-16) to fourth this year. Gallaudet led the conference in community service hours with 3,954 hours logged. Morrisville State College took home the cup in this category.

Gallaudet was fifth in the Athletics Direct Reports' Cup for sportsmanship where baseball and men's swimming and diving were tops in their respective sports category for sportsmanship.

The Bison finished 11th overall in the Athletics Directors' Cup as they placed 10th overall in the men's standings and 12th in the women's standings. The Bison claimed one NEAC championship last year in women's volleyball for the seventh straight season. GU fielded six teams, last season, that competed on the women’s side (basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball) and five on the men’s side (baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming). The Athletic Directors' Cup standings for men’s and women’s athletic success are determined by percentage and not total points earned because some schools don’t support all 18 sports sponsored by the conference. Penn St.-Abington won the Athletics Directors' Cup.

The Bison placed 11th in the conference in the Faculty Athletic Representatives' Cup for academics.

Lancaster Bible College won the NEAC Presidents' Cup with 13 points as it placed first in the Athletics Direct Reports' Cup and Faculty Athletic Representatives' Cup and finished in the top six in two other categories. This is Lancaster Bible's first NEAC Presidents' Cup since joining the conference. Morrisville State finished second (20 points) followed by Keuka College (21.5), SUNY Poly (25) and Penn St.-Berks (25.5) round out the top five.

This is the third year that the NEAC has determined its Presidents’ Cup winner by utilizing the core values of NCAA Division III. In addition to calculating athletics success, which was the only factor taken into consideration when awarding the conference’s Presidents’ Cup in the past, the NEAC now also takes into account academics, sportsmanship and community service.

Under the new scoring system the highest Gallaudet has placed is sixth overall in 2014-15. The highest the Bison have placed all-time in the NEAC Presidents' Cup is fourth in 2010-11, GU's first season in the conference.